The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 101.27
points, or 0.8 percent, to 12,674.35 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, the
biggest gain since Aug. 8. The index has advanced 1.5 percent in
August. Trading volume was 5.5 percent lower than the 30-day
average at this time of the day.

The report from China “is indicative of a soft landing,”
said Bob Decker, a fund manager with Aurion Capital Management
in Toronto. The firm manages about C$6 billion ($5.7 billion).
“We still need more data from China. It’s too early to call the
end of the slowdown just yet.”

A factory index released today showed Chinese manufacturing
resumed expansion this month after shrinking the most in almost
a year in July. Growth in the world’s second-biggest economy has
been slowing in recent quarters. China is Canada’s No. 2
trading partner and the largest consumer of metals and energy.

“This is good news for resource markets,” said David
Rosenberg, chief economist and strategist with Gluskin Sheff &
Associates Inc., in a note to clients today.

Metals Producers

Raw-materials producers increased 2.3 percent, the most in
the S&P/TSX as nine of 10 industries advanced.

Barrick Gold, the world’s largest producer of the metal,
rose 3.1 percent to C$20.57 after agreeing to the $300 million
deal with Gold Fields Ltd. The move is part of Barrick’s plan to
sell assets and cut costs to offset a drop in the price of gold,
which plunged in April by the most in three decades.

Kinross Gold Corp. increased 3.1 percent to C$5.97 and
Torex Gold Resources Inc. surged 6.3 percent to C$1.70 as the
price of the metal for December delivery climbed for the second
time in three days.

Bombardier Inc. gained 2.8 percent to C$4.70, snapping
three days of losses. Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. advanced 3.6
percent to C$128.33, for the largest increase in three months,
as the S&P/TSX Industrials Index rallied 1.5 percent for the
first increase in four days.

WesternZagros Resources plunged 27 percent to C$1.10, the
most since May 2010. Tests of the Kurdamir-3 well in Iraq’s
Kurdistan region resulted in non-commercial flow rates,
WesternZagros said in a statement yesterday.

“There was disappointment over one of their major wells,”
Aurion’s Decker said. “It’s a one-hit wonder: if this play
works out the stock is a home run, but it’s a very high risk.”